UNLIMITED

BBC Music Magazine

Rewarding Rihm with a tour-de-force performance

f0082-02.jpg
f0082-01.jpg

Magnificent lead: baritone Joachim Goltz stands out in the title role

Rihm

Jakob Lenz

Joachim Goltz (baritone) et al; Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim/Franck Ollu

 Oehms OC 981 66:14 mins

The German composer Wolfgang Rihm died in July at the age of 72. He was well known for his operas, of which Jakob Lenz (1979) was an early and notable example.

The subject is the eponymous Baltic German Sturm und Drang poet and playwright (1751-92), an episode from whose sad life (he seems to have suffered from schizophrenia and eventually died homeless on a Moscow street) was turned into a novella by the early Romantic writer Georg Büchner. It’s his text which forms the basis of Michael Fröhling’s libretto.

Lenz’s unrequited love for Friederike Brion, a former flame of his sometime friend Goethe, runs like a leitmotif through the score.

The forces are small: three principal singersGoltz), Pastor Oberlin (bass Patrick Zielke) and Lenz’s friend Kaufmann (tenor Raphael Wittmer), both of whom who try to help him; plus a group of six adult offstage voices and a handful of children’s voices.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from BBC Music Magazine

BBC Music Magazine1 min read
Aiming To Impress
Angel Blue is not the only beauty pageant veteran to offer musical performance as her ‘talent’ – that opportunity for contestants to showcase their artistic skills. While everything from performing a monologue to speed painting, hair dressing and ven
BBC Music Magazine2 min read
Music To My Ears
A trip to The Ivors Classical Awards is always part-entertaining (and the fabulous outfits did not disappoint) and part-inspirational. This year’s event featured moving acceptance speeches from Innovation Award winner Gavin Bryars and Outstanding Wor
BBC Music Magazine3 min read
Concert Heaven Concert Hell
THIS MONTH Sabine Devieilhe soprano R Strauss Der Rosenkavalier Sabine Devieilhe (soprano) et al; Teatro alla Scala Orchestra/Kirill Petrenko La Scala, Milan (October 2024) This is a performance I did just a while ago at La Scala in Milan; I was sing

Related Books & Audiobooks